Secret tapes surface in sheriff probe

Covert recordings of top police brass found in Stop-DWI official's office after he was fired

By BRENDAN J. LYONS Senior writer

Published 12:57 am, Thursday, July 21, 2011

ALBANY -- Audio tapes containing what appear to be secret recordings of private conversations were discovered in the office used by the former Albany County Stop-DWI coordinator, Leonard J. Crouch.

The office was inventoried after Crouch was fired Friday in connection with a sheriff's investigation into allegations he helped a co-worker conceal that she is not a county resident, which is a requirement of her employment. The probe also revealed that Crouch and the co-worker, Erin M. Loffredo, had secretly recorded then-Sheriff James L. Campbell when Loffredo confronted Campbell last month about whether he'd sanctioned her use of fraudulent addresses.

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Craig Apple, a former undersheriff now heading the department, confirmed Wednesday that investigators had recovered approximately six micro-cassette tapes in Crouch's Cohoes office. Apple declined to identify whose conversations were recorded but said it appeared the tapes had been made by Crouch.

While Crouch carried the rank of first sergeant and often wore a police uniform, he was a civilian in an administrative post, Apple said. He noted that as an "at-will'' employee not covered by civil service rules, Crouch could be terminated immediately.

Another public official briefed on the matter said some of the people allegedly recorded by Crouch include other high-ranking law enforcement officials and at least one Stop-DWI staffer.

"Micro-cassettes were recovered, and the Office of Professional Standards is reviewing them," Apple said. "We're examining whether the making of these tapes was a violation of departmental policies."

It's a violation of department rules for a sheriff's employee to tape-record another employee, Apple said.

Loffredo, the Stop-DWI victims' coordinator, was suspended Friday. The discipline stemmed from allegations she took part in taping then-Sheriff Campbell when he met with Loffredo at her Cohoes office last month to discuss her residency. Loffredo has not faced discipline regarding her residency claims, which are under separate review by the Albany County district attorney's office.

Campbell, 71, retired abruptly last month. Apple is seeking election in November to succeed him.

Sheriff's investigators learned of the tape-recording of him when Loffredo's attorney, Cheryl Coleman, allowed an internal affairs investigator, Campbell's private attorney and a county attorney to hear the tape at her office. Coleman claims Campbell acknowledged on the tape knowing that Loffredo was not a county resident when she was hired as victims' coordinator in 2004.

Coleman has declined to publicly release a copy of the recording.

Loffredo lives in Averill Park, Rensselaer County, where she has been a registered voter since 1993. Yet records obtained by the Times Union show she has listed Albany County addresses that include a senior housing complex, the Colonie residence of Crouch's mother-in-law and that of a business operated by her husband, Richard. Sheriff's investigators discovered Loffredo's personnel file also contained a copy of her New York driver's license that has been altered with a fake address, according to a person briefed on the investigation.

Coleman on Monday said her client did not forge the license and only became aware recently that it had been doctored. She declined to say whom she alleges may have done it.

Meanwhile, as a result of Loffredo's case, several sheriff's employees have notified supervisors they may be in violation of the residency rule the county legislature set in 1995, Apple said. He would not identify the employees but said he is consulting with the county's human resources department, which oversees the residency requirements.

Last month, county officials had offered Loffredo a deal to take a 10-day suspension and move into the county within six months to avoid criminal charges.

In a letter dated June 9, Coleman informed a sheriff's investigator that her client, Loffredo, "has some difficulties in principle with the proposed agreement."

Coleman provided a copy of the letter to the Times Union. The county had rejected the newspaper's request for a copy of the letter.

"First, the action at issue was the subject of a directive from the sheriff himself, and she has provided me with absolute proof of that," Coleman wrote of her client. "Secondly, she feels singled out, possibly because of gender, when at least four officers in the department, including the sheriff's son, reside outside of Albany County and utilize Albany County addresses with the sheriff's blessing."

Campbell has two sons employed by the sheriff's department. Matthew Campbell, 43, is a chief deputy who lives in Halfmoon. He was hired several years before the 1995 residency rule took effect and is not required to live in the county, officials said.

James T. Campbell, 35, is a patrol sergeant who was hired in 2002 and lives in Guilderland. Property records indicate he owned a residence in Rexford, Saratoga County, from 2002 until 2007.

Staff writer Carol DeMare contributed to this report. Reach Lyons at 454-5547 or by e-mail at blyons@timesunion.com.